Satan,[a] also known as the Devil,[b] is an entity in the Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin or falsehood. In Christianity and Islam, he is usually seen as either a fallen angel or a jinn, who used to possess great piety and beauty, but rebelled against God, who nevertheless allows him temporary power over the fallen world and a host of demons. In Judaism, Satan is typically regarded as a metaphor for the yetzer hara, or "evil inclination", or as an agent subservient to God.

Historical development

Hebrew Bible

Balaam and the Angel (1836) by Gustav Jäger. The angel in this incident is referred to as a "satan".[8]

The original Hebrew term sâtan (Hebrew: שָּׂטָן‎) is a generic noun meaning "accuser" or "adversary",[9][10] which is used throughout the Hebrew Bible to refer to ordinary human adversaries,[11][10] as well as a specific supernatural entity.[11][10] The word is derived from a verb meaning primarily "to obstruct, oppose".[12] When it is used without the definite article (simply satan), the word can refer to any accuser,[11] but when it is used with the definite article (ha-satan), it usually refers specifically to the heavenly accuser: the satan.[11]

Psalm 109:6b "and let Satan stand at his right hand" (KJV)[16] or "let an accuser stand at his right hand." (ESV, etc.)

The word "satan" does not occur in the Book of Genesis,[17] which mentions only a talking serpent[17] and does not identify the serpent with any supernatural entity.[17] The first occurrence of the word "satan" in the Hebrew Bible in reference to a supernatural figure comes from Numbers 22:22,[18] which describes the Angel of Yahweh confronting Balaam on his donkey:[8] "Balaam's departure aroused the wrath of Elohim, and the Angel of Yahweh stood in the road as a satan against him."[18] In 2 Samuel 24, Yahweh sends the "Angel of Yahweh" to inflict a plague against Israel for three days, killing 70,000 people as punishment for David having taken a census without his approval.[19]1 Chronicles 21:1 repeats this story,[19] but replaces the "Angel of Yahweh" with an entity referred to as "a satan".[19]

Some passages clearly refer to the satan, without using the word itself.[20]1 Samuel 2:12 describes the sons of Eli as "sons of Belial";[21] the later usage of this word makes it clearly a synonym for "satan".[21] In 1 Samuel 16:14-23 Yahweh sends a "troubling spirit" to torment King Saul as a mechanism to ingratiate David with the king.[22] In 1 Kings 22:19-25, the prophet Micaiah describes to King Ahab a vision of Yahweh sitting on his throne surrounded by the Host of Heaven.[21] Yahweh asks the Host which of them will lead Ahab astray.[21] A "spirit", whose name is not specified, but who is analogous to the satan, volunteers to be "a Lying Spirit in the mouth of all his Prophets".[21]

Book of Job

The satan appears in the Book of Job, a poetic dialogue set within a prose framework,[23] which may have been written around the time of the Babylonian captivity.[23] In the text, Job is a righteous man favored by Yahweh.[23]Job 1:6-8 describes the "sons of God" (bənê hāʼĕlōhîm) presenting themselves before Yahweh.[23] Yahweh asks one of them, "the satan", where he has been, to which he replies that he has been roaming around the earth.[23] Yahweh asks, "Have you considered My servant Job?"[23] The satan replies by urging Yahweh to let him torture Job, promising that Job will abandon his faith at the first tribulation.[24] Yahweh consents; the satan destroys Job's servants and flocks, yet Job refuses to condemn Yahweh.[24] The first scene repeats itself, with the satan presenting himself to Yahweh alongside the other "sons of God".[25] Yahweh points out Job's continued faithfulness, to which the satan insists that more testing is necessary;[25] Yahweh once again gives him permission to test Job.[25] In the end, Job remains faithful and righteous, and it is implied that the satan is shamed in his defeat.[26]

Book of Zechariah

Zechariah 3:1-7 contains a description of a vision dated to the middle of February of 519 BC,[27] in which an angel shows Zechariah a scene of Joshua the High Priest dressed in filthy rags, representing the nation of Judah and its sins,[28] on trial with Yahweh as the judge and the satan standing as the prosecutor.[28] Yahweh rebukes the satan[28] and orders for Joshua to be given clean clothes, representing Yahweh's forgiveness of Judah's sins.[28]

The idea of Satan as an opponent of God and a purely evil figure seems to have taken root in Jewish pseudepigrapha during the Second Temple Period,[33] particularly in the apocalypses.[34] The Book of Enoch, which the Dead Sea Scrolls have revealed to have been nearly as popular as the Torah,[35] describes a group of 200 angels known as the "Watchers", who are assigned to supervise the earth, but instead abandon their duties and have sexual intercourse with human women.[36] The leader of the Watchers is Semjâzâ[37] and another member of the group, known as Azazel, spreads sin and corruption among humankind.[37] The Watchers are ultimately sequestered in isolated caves across the earth[37] and are condemned to face judgement at the end of time.[37] The Book of Jubilees, written in around 150 BC,[38] retells the story of the Watchers' defeat,[39] but, in deviation from the Book of Enoch, Mastema, the "Chief of Spirits", intervenes before they are all sealed away, requesting for Yahweh to let him keep some of them to become his workers.[40] Yahweh acquiesces this request[40] and Mastema uses them to tempt humans into committing more sins, so that he may punish them for their wickedness.[41] Later, Mastema induces Yahweh to test Abraham by ordering him to sacrifice Isaac.[41][42]

The Second Book of Enoch, also called the Slavonic Book of Enoch, contains references to a Watcher called Satanael.[43] It is a pseudepigraphic text of an uncertain date and unknown authorship. The text describes Satanael as being the prince of the Grigori who was cast out of heaven[44] and an evil spirit who knew the difference between what was "righteous" and "sinful".[45] In the Book of Wisdom, the devil is represented as the being who brought death into the world.[46] The name Samael, which is used in reference to one of the fallen angels, later became a common name for Satan in Jewish Midrash and Kabbalah.[47]

Judaism

Rabbinical Judaism

The sound of a shofar (pictured) is believed to symbolically confuse Satan.

Most Jews do not believe in the existence of a supernatural omnimalevolent figure.[48] Traditionalists and philosophers in medieval Judaism adhered to rational theology, rejecting any belief in rebel or fallen angels, and viewing evil as abstract.[49] The Rabbis usually interpreted the word satan as it is used in the Tanakh as referring strictly to human adversaries[50] and rejected all of the Enochian writings mentioning Satan as a literal, heavenly figure from the Biblical canon, making every attempt to root them out.[33] Nonetheless, the word satan has occasionally been metaphorically applied to evil influences,[51] such as the Jewish exegesis of the yetzer hara ("evil inclination") mentioned in Genesis 6:5.[52] Rabbinical scholarship on the Book of Job generally follows the Talmud and Maimonides in identifying "the satan" from the prologue as a metaphor for the yetzer hara and not an actual entity.[53] Satan is rarely mentioned in Tannaitic literature, but is found in Babylonian aggadah.[34] According to a narration, the sound of the shofar, which is primarily intended to remind Jews of the importance of teshuva, is also intended symbolically to "confuse the accuser" (Satan) and prevent him from rendering any litigation to God against the Jews.[54] In Hasidic Judaism, the Kabbalah presents Satan as an agent of God whose function is to tempt humans into sinning so that he may accuse them in the heavenly court.[55] The Hasidic Jews of the 18th century associated ha-Satan with Baal Davar.[56]

Modern Judaism

Each sect of Judaism has its own interpretation of Satan's identity. Conservative Judaism generally rejects the Talmudic interpretation of Satan as a metaphor for the yetzer hara, and regard him as a literal agent of God.[57]Orthodox Judaism, on the other hand, outwardly embraces Talmudic teachings on Satan, and involves Satan in religious life far more inclusively than other sects. Satan is mentioned explicitly in some daily prayers, including during Shacharit and certain post-meal benedictions, as described in Talmud[58] and the Jewish Code of Law.[59] In Reform Judaism, Satan is generally seen in his Talmudic role as a metaphor for the yetzer hara and the symbolic representation of innate human qualities such as selfishness.[60]

Christianity

Names

The most common English synonym for "Satan" is "devil", which descends from Middle Englishdevel, from Old Englishdēofol, that in turn represents an early Germanic borrowing of Latindiabolus (also the source of "diabolical"). This in turn was borrowed from Greekdiabolos "slanderer", from diaballein "to slander": dia- "across, through" + ballein "to hurl".[61] In the New Testament, the words Satan and diabolos are used interchangeably as synonyms.[62][63]Beelzebub, meaning "Lord of Flies", is the contemptuous name given in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament to a Philistine god whose original name has been reconstructed as most probably "Ba'al Zabul", meaning "Baal the Prince".[64] The Synoptic Gospels identify Satan and Beelzebub as the same.[62] The name Abaddon (meaning "place of destruction") is used six times in the Old Testament, mainly as a name for one the regions of Sheol.[65]Revelation 9:11 describes Abaddon, whose name is translated into Greek as Apollyon, meaning "the destroyer", as an angel who rules the Abyss.[66] In modern usage, Abaddon is sometimes equated with Satan.[65]

New Testament

Gospels, Acts, and epistles

The three Synoptic Gospels all describe the temptation of Christ by Satan in the desert (Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, and Luke 4:1-13).[67] Satan first shows Jesus a stone and tells him to turn it into bread.[67] He also takes him to the pinnacle of the Temple in Jerusalem and commands Jesus to throw himself down so that the angels will catch him.[67] Satan takes Jesus to the top of a tall mountain as well; there, he shows him the kingdoms of the earth and promises to give them all to him if he will bow down and worship him.[67] Each time Jesus rebukes Satan[67] and, after the third temptation, he is administered by the angels.[67] Satan's promise in Matthew 4:8-9 and Luke 4:6-7 to give Jesus all the kingdoms of the earth implies that all those kingdoms belong to him.[68] The fact that Jesus does not dispute Satan's promise indicates that the authors of those gospels believed this to be true.[68]

Satan plays a role in some of the parables of Jesus, namely the Parable of the Sower, the Parable of the Weeds, Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, and the Parable of the Strong Man.[69] According to the Parable of the Sower, Satan "profoundly influences" those who fail to understand the gospel.[70] The latter two parables say that Satan's followers will be punished on Judgement Day, with the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats stating that the Devil, his angels, and the people who follow him will be consigned to "eternal fire".[71] When the Pharisees accused Jesus of exorcising demons through the power of Beelzebub, Jesus responds by telling the Parable of the Strongman, saying: "how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house" (Matthew 12:29).[72] The strong man in this parable represents Satan.[73]

Revelation 12:3 describes a vision of a Great Red Dragon with seven heads, ten horns, seven crowns, and a massive tail,[96] an image which is clearly inspired by the vision of the four beasts from the sea in the Book of Daniel[97] and the Leviathan described in various Old Testament passages.[98] The Great Red Dragon knocks "a third of the sun... a third of the moon, and a third of the stars" out the sky[99] and pursues the Woman of the Apocalypse.[99]Revelation 12:7-9 declares: "And war broke out in Heaven. Michael and his angels fought against Dragon. Dragon and his angels fought back, but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in Heaven. Dragon the Great was thrown down, that ancient serpent who is called Devil and Satan, the one deceiving the whole inhabited World - he was thrown down to earth and his angels were thrown down with him."[100] Then a voice booms down from Heaven heralding the defeat of "the Accuser" (ho Kantegor), identifying the Satan of Revelation with the satan of the Old Testament.[101]

Patristic era

Despite the fact that the Book of Genesis never mentions Satan,[17] Christians have traditionally interpreted the serpent in the Garden of Eden as Satan due to Revelation 12:7, which calls Satan "that ancient serpent".[101][10] This verse, however, is probably intended to identify Satan with the Leviathan,[101] a monstrous sea-serpent whose destruction by Yahweh is prophesied in Isaiah 27:1.[98] The first recorded individual to identify Satan with the serpent from the Garden of Eden was the second-century AD Christian apologist Justin Martyr,[107][108] in chapters 45 and 79 of his Dialogue with Trypho.[108] Other early church fathers to mention this identification include Theophilus and Tertullian.[109] The early Christian Church, however, encountered opposition from pagans such as Celsus, who claimed in his treatise The True Word that "it is blasphemy... to say that the greatest God... has an adversary who constrains his capacity to do good" and said that Christians "impiously divide the kingdom of God, creating a rebellion in it, as if there were opposing factions within the divine, including one that is hostile to God".[110]

In his apologetic treatise Contra Celsum, however, Origen changed his interpretations of Isaiah 14:12 and Ezekiel 28:12-15, now interpreting both of them as referring to Satan.[118] According to Henry Ansgar Kelly, Origen seems to have adopted this new interpretation to refute unnamed persons who, perhaps under the influence of Zoroastrian radical dualism, believed "that Satan's original nature was Darkness."[119] The later Church Father Jerome (c. 347 – 420), translator of the Latin Vulgate, accepted Origen's theory of Satan as a fallen angel[120] and wrote about it in his commentary on the Book of Isaiah.[120] In Christian tradition ever since, both Isaiah 14:12[121][122] and Ezekiel 28:12-15 have been understood as allegorically referring to Satan.[123][124] For most Christians, Satan has been regarded as an angel who rebelled against God.[125][122]

Most early Christians firmly believed that Satan and his demons had the power to possess humans[132] and exorcisms were widely practiced by Jews, Christians, and pagans alike.[132] Belief in demonic possession continued through the Middle Ages into the early modern period.[133][134] Exorcisms were seen as a display of God's power over Satan.[135] The vast majority of people who thought they were possessed by the Devil did not suffer from hallucinations or other "spectacular symptoms", but "complained of anxiety, religious fears, and evil thoughts."[136]

Middle Ages

Satan had minimal role in medieval Christian theology,[137] but he frequently appeared as a recurring comedic stock character in late medieval mystery plays, in which he was portrayed as a comic relief figure who "frolicked, fell, and farted in the background".[137]Jeffrey Burton Russell describes the medieval conception of Satan as "more pathetic and repulsive than terrifying"[137][138] and he was seen as little more than a nuisance to God's overarching plan.[137] The Golden Legend, a collection of saints' lives compiled in around 1260 by the Dominican Friar Jacobus da Varagine, contains numerous stories about encounters between saints and Satan,[139] in which Satan is constantly duped by the saints' cleverness and by the power of God.[139] Henry Ansgar Kelly remarks that Satan "comes across as the opposite of fearsome."[140] The Golden Legend was the most popular book during the High and Late Middle Ages[141] and more manuscripts of it have survived from the period than for any other book, including even the Bible itself.[141]

During the Early Modern Period, Christians gradually began to regard Satan as increasingly powerful[144] and the fear of Satan's power became a dominant aspect of the worldview of Christians across Europe.[135][137] During the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther taught that, rather than trying to argue with Satan, Christians should avoid temptation altogether by seeking out pleasant company;[147] Luther especially recommended music as a safeguard against temptation, since the Devil "cannot endure gaiety."[147]John Calvin repeated a maxim from Saint Augustine that "Man is like a horse, with either God or the devil as rider."[148]

In the late fifteenth century, a series of witchcraft panics erupted in France and Germany.[145][146] The German InquisitorsHeinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger argued in their book Malleus Maleficarum, published in 1487, that all maleficia ("sorcery") was rooted in the work of Satan.[149] In the mid-sixteenth century, the panic spread to England and Switzerland.[145] Both Protestants and Catholics alike firmly believed in witchcraft as a real phenomenon and supported its prosecution.[150][151] In the late 1500s, the Dutch demonologist Johann Weyer argued in his treatise De praestigiis daemonum that witchcraft did not exist,[152] but that Satan promoted belief in it to lead Christians astray.[152] The panic over witchcraft intensified in the 1620s and continued until the end of the 1600s.[145] Brian Levack estimates that around 60,000 people were executed for witchcraft during the entire span of the witchcraft hysteria.[145]

By the early 1600s, skeptics in Europe, including the English author Reginald Scot and the Anglican bishop John Bancroft, had begun to criticize the belief that demons still had the power to possess people.[160] This skepticism was bolstered by the belief that miracles only occurred during the Apostolic Age, which had long since ended.[161] Later, Enlightenment thinkers, such as David Hume, Denis Diderot, and Voltaire, attacked the notion of Satan's existence altogether.[162] Voltaire labelled John Milton's Paradise Lost a "disgusting fantasy"[162] and declared that belief in Hell and Satan were among the many lies propagated by the Catholic Church to keep humanity enslaved.[162] By the eighteenth century, trials for witchcraft had ceased in most western countries, with the notable exceptions of Poland and Hungary, where they continued.[163] Belief in the power of Satan, however, remained strong among traditional Christians.[163]

Modern era

Mormonism developed its own views on Satan. According to the Book of Moses, the Devil offered to be the redeemer of mankind for the sake of his own glory. Conversely, Jesus offered to be the redeemer of mankind so that his father's will would be done. After his offer was rejected, Satan became rebellious and was subsequently cast out of heaven.[164] In the Book of Moses, Cain is said to have "loved Satan more than God"[165] and conspired with Satan to kill Abel. It was through this pact that Cain became a Master Mahan.[166] The Book of Moses also says that Moses was tempted by Satan before calling upon the name of the "Only Begotten", which caused Satan to depart. Douglas Davies asserts that this text "reflects" the temptation of Jesus in the Bible.[167]

Belief in Satan and demonic possession remains strong among Christians in the United States[168][169][170] and Latin America.[171] According to a 2013 poll conducted by YouGov, fifty-seven percent of people in the United States believe in a literal Devil,[168] compared to eighteen percent of people in Britain.[168] Fifty-one percent of Americans believe that Satan has the power to possess people.[168] W. Scott Poole, author of Satan in America: The Devil We Know, has opined that "In the United States over the last forty to fifty years, a composite image of Satan has emerged that borrows from both popular culture and theological sources" and that most American Christians do not "separate what they know [about Satan] from the movies from what they know from various ecclesiastical and theological traditions."[154] The Catholic Church generally played down Satan and exorcism during late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries,[171] but Pope Francis brought renewed focus on the Devil in the early 2010s, stating, among many other pronouncements, that "The devil is intelligent, he knows more theology than all the theologians together."[171][172] According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, liberal Christianity tends to view Satan "as a [figurative] mythological attempt to express the reality and extent of evil in the universe, existing outside and apart from humanity but profoundly influencing the human sphere."[173]

Bernard McGinn describes multiple traditions detailing the relationship between the Antichrist and Satan.[174] In the dualist approach, Satan will become incarnate in the Antichrist, just as God became incarnate in Jesus.[174] However, in Orthodox Christian thought, this view is problematic because it is too similar to Christ's incarnation.[174] Instead, the "indwelling" view has become more accepted,[174] which stipulates that the Antichrist is a human figure inhabited by Satan,[174] since the latter's power is not to be seen as equivalent to God's.[174]

Islam

The Arabic equivalent of the word Satan is Shaitan (شيطان, from the root šṭn شط⁬ن). The word itself is an adjective (meaning "astray" or "distant", sometimes translated as "devil") that can be applied to both man ("al-ins", الإنس) and al-jinn (الجن), but it is also used in reference to Satan in particular. In the Quran, Satan's name is Iblis (Arabic pronunciation: [ˈibliːs]), probably a derivative of the Greek word diabolos.[175] Muslims do not regard Satan as the cause of evil, but as a tempter, who takes advantage of humans' inclinations toward self-centeredness.[176]

Quran

Illustration from an Arabic manuscript of the Annals of al-Tabari showing Iblis refusing to prostrate before the newly-created Adam

The primary characteristic of Satan, aside from his hubris and despair, is his ability to cast evil suggestions (waswās) into men and women.[183]15:45 states that Satan has no influence over the righteous,[184] but that those who fall in error are under his power.[184]7:156 implies that those who obey God's laws are immune to the temptations of Satan.[184]56:79 warns that Satan tries to keep Muslims from reading the Quran[185] and 16:98-100 recommends reciting the Quran as an antidote against Satan.[185]35:6 refers to Satan as the enemy of humanity[185] and 36:60 forbids humans from worshipping him.[185] In the Quranic retelling of the story of Job, Job knows that Satan is the one tormenting him.[185]

Islamic tradition

Affiliation

In the Quran, Satan is apparently an angel,[175] but, in 18:50, he is described as "from the jinns".[175] This, combined with the fact that he describes himself as having been made from fire, posed a major problem for Muslims exegetes of the Quran,[175] who disagree on whether Satan is a fallen angel or the leader of a group of evil jinn.[186] According to a hadith from Ibn Abbas, Iblis was actually an angel whom God created out of fire. Ibn Abbas asserts that the word jinn could be applied to earthly jinn, but also to "fiery angels" like Satan.[187]

Hasan of Basra, an eminent Muslim theologian who lived in the seventh century AD, was quoted as saying: "Iblis was not an angel even for the time of an eye wink. He is the origin of Jinn as Adam is of Mankind."[188] The medieval Persian scholar Abu Al-Zamakhshari states that the words angels and jinn are synonyms.[189] Another Persian scholar, Al-Baydawi, instead argues that Satan hoped to be an angel,[189] but that his actions made him a jinn.[189] Other Islamic scholars argue that Satan was a jinn who was admitted into Paradise as a reward for his righteousness and, unlike the angels, was given the choice to obey or disobey God. When he was expelled from Paradise, Satan blamed humanity for his punishment.[190] Concering the fiery origin of Iblis, Zakariya al-Qazwini and Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Ibshīhī[191] state that all supernatural creatures originated from fire but the angels from its light and the jinn from its blaze, thus fire denotes a disembodiment origin of all spiritual entities.[192]

The Muslim historian Al-Tabari, who died in around 923 AD,[175] writes that, before Adam was created, earthly jinn made of smokeless fire roamed the earth and spread corruption.[193] He further relates that Iblis was originally an angel named Azazil or Al-Harith,[194] from a group of angels, in contrast to the jinn, created from the fires of simoom,[195] who was sent by God to confront the earthly jinn.[196][175] Azazil defeated the jinn in battle and drove them into the mountains,[196] but he became convinced that he was superior to humans and all the other angels, leading to his downfall.[196] In this account, Azazil's group of angels were called jinn because they guarded Jannah (Paradise).[197] In another tradition recorded by Al-Tabari, Satan was one of the earthly jinn, who was taken captive by the angels[184][175] and brought to Heaven as a prisoner.[184][175] God appointed him as judge over the other jinn and he became known as Al-Hakam.[184] He fulfilled his duty for a thousand years before growing negligent,[175] but was rehabilitated again and resumed his position until his refusal to bow before Adam.[175]

Other traditions

A stoning of the Devil from 1942

During the first two centuries of Islam, Muslims almost unanimously accepted the veracity of a tradition known as the Satanic Verses.[198] According to this narrative, Muhammad was told by Satan to add words to the Quran which would allow Muslims to pray for the intercession of pagan goddesses.[199] He mistook the words of Satan for divine inspiration.[198] Modern Muslims almost universally reject this story as heretical, as it calls the integrity of the Quran into question.[200]

On the third day of the Hajj, Muslim pilgrims to Mecca throw seven stones at a pillar known as the Jamrah al-’Aqabah, symbolizing the stoning of the Devil.[201] This ritual is based on the Islamic tradition that, when God ordered Abraham to sacrifice his son Ishmael, Satan tempted him three times not to do it, and, each time, Abraham responded by throwing seven stones at him.[201][202]

The hadith teach that newborn babies cry because Satan touches them while they are being born, and that this touch causes people to have an aptitude for sin.[203] This doctrine bears some similarities to the doctrine of original sin.[203] Muslim tradition holds that only Jesus and Mary were not touched by Satan at birth.[203] However, when he was a boy, Muhammad's heart was literally opened by an angel, who removed a black clot that symbolized sin.[203]

Angels bow before the newly created Adam, but Iblis (top right on the picture) refuses to prostrate

Muslim tradition preserves a number of stories involving dialogues between Jesus and Iblis,[196] all of which are intended to demonstrate Jesus's virtue and Satan's depravity.[204]Ahmad ibn Hanbal records an Islamic retelling of Jesus's temptation by Satan in the desert from the Synoptic Gospels.[196] Ahmad quotes Jesus as saying, "The greatest sin is love of the world. Women are the ropes of Satan. Wine is the key to every evil."[204]Abu Uthman al-Jahiz credits Jesus with saying, "The world is Satan's farm, and its people are his plowmen."[196]Al-Ghazali tells an anecdote about how Jesus went out one day and saw Satan carrying ashes and honey;[205] when he asked what they were for, Satan replied, "The honey I put on the lips of backbiters so that they achieve their aim. The ashes I put on the faces of orphans, so that people come to dislike them."[205] The thirteenth-century scholar Sibt ibn al-Jawzi states that, when Jesus asked him what truly broke his back, Satan replied, "The neighing of horses in the cause of Allah."[205]

According to Sufi mysticism, Iblis refused to bow to Adam because he was fully devoted to God alone and refused to bow to anyone else.[206][189] For this reason, Sufi masters regard Satan and Muhammad as the two most perfect monotheists.[206] Sufis reject the concept of dualism[206][207] and instead believe in the unity of existence.[207] In the same way that Muhammad was the instrument of God's mercy,[206] Sufis regard Satan as the instrument of God's wrath.[206]

Muslims believe that Satan is also the cause of deceptions originating from the mind and desires for evil. He is regarded as a cosmic force for separation, despair and spiritual envelopment. Muslims do distinguish between the satanic temptations and the murmurings of the bodily lower self (Nafs). The lower self commands the person to do a specific task or to fulfill a specific desire; whereas the inspirations of Satan tempt the person to do evil in general and, after a person successfully resists his first suggestion, Satan returns with new ones.[208] If a Muslim feels that Satan is inciting him to sin, he is advised to seek refuge with God by reciting: "In the name of Allah, I seek refuge in you, from Satan the outcast." Muslims are also obliged to "seek refuge" before reciting the Quran.[209]

Bahá'í Faith

In the Bahá'í Faith, Satan is not regarded as an independent evil power as he is in some faiths,[210][211] but signifies the lower nature of humans.[210][211]`Abdu'l-Bahá explains: "This lower nature in man is symbolized as Satan — the evil ego within us, not an evil personality outside."[210][211] All other evil spirits described in various faith traditions—such as fallen angels, demons, and jinns—are also metaphors for the base character traits a human being may acquire and manifest when he turns away from God.[212] Actions, that are described as "satanic" in some Bahá'í writings, denote humans deeds caused by selfish desires.[213]

Theistic Satanism

Theistic Satanism, commonly referred to as "devil worship",[215] views Satan as a deity, whom individuals may supplicate to.[216][217] It consists of loosely affiliated or independent groups and cabals, which all agree that Satan is a real entity.[218]

Atheistic Satanism

Atheistic Satanism, as practiced by the Satanic Temple and by followers of LaVeyan Satanism, holds that Satan does not exist as a literal anthropomorphic entity, but rather as a symbol of a cosmos which Satanists perceive to be permeated and motivated by a force that has been given many names by humans over the course of time. In this religion, "Satan" is not viewed or depicted as a hubristic, irrational, and fraudulent creature, but rather is revered with Prometheus-like attributes, symbolizing liberty and individual empowerment. To adherents, he also serves as a conceptual framework and an external metaphorical projection of the Satanist's highest personal potential.[219][220][221][222][223] In his essay "Satanism: The Feared Religion", the current High Priest of the Church of Satan, Peter H. Gilmore, further expounds that "...Satan is a symbol of Man living as his prideful, carnal nature dictates. The reality behind Satan is simply the dark evolutionary force of entropy that permeates all of nature and provides the drive for survival and propagation inherent in all living things. Satan is not a conscious entity to be worshiped, rather a reservoir of power inside each human to be tapped at will".[224]

LaVeyan Satanists embrace the original etymological meaning of the word "Satan" (Hebrew: שָּׂטָן satan, meaning "adversary"). According to Peter H. Gilmore, "The Church of Satan has chosen Satan as its primary symbol because in Hebrew it means adversary, opposer, one to accuse or question. We see ourselves as being these Satans; the adversaries, opposers and accusers of all spiritual belief systems that would try to hamper enjoyment of our life as a human being."[225]

Allegations of worship

The main deity in the tentatively Indo-European pantheon of the Yazidis, Melek Taus, is similar to the devil in Christian and Islamic traditions, as he refused to bow down before humanity.[226][227] Therefore Christians and Muslims often consider Melek Taus to be Satan.[226][227] However, rather than being Satanic, Yazidism can be understood as a remnant of a pre-Islamic Middle Eastern Indo-European religion, and/or a ghulatSufi movement founded by Shaykh Adi. In fact, there is no entity in Yazidism which represents evil in opposition to God; such dualism is rejected by Yazidis.[228]

Wicca is a modern, syncreticNeopagan religion,[230] whose practitioners many Christians have incorrectly assumed to worship Satan.[230] In actuality, Wiccans do not believe in the existence of Satan or any analogous figure[230] and have repeatedly and emphatically rejected the notion that they venerate such an entity.[230] The cult of the skeletal figure of Santa Muerte, which has grown exponentially in Mexico,[231][232] has been denounced by the Catholic Church as Devil-worship.[233] However, devotees of Santa Muerte view her as an angel of death created by God,[234] and many of them identify as Catholic.[235]

Much modern folklore about Satanism does not originate from the actual beliefs or practices of theistic or atheistic Satanists, but rather from a mixture of medieval Christian folk beliefs, political or sociological conspiracy theories, and contemporary urban legends.[236][237][238][239] An example is the Satanic ritual abuse scare of the 1980s — beginning with the memoir Michelle Remembers — which depicted Satanism as a vast conspiracy of elites with a predilection for child abuse and human sacrifice.[237][238] This genre frequently describes Satan as physically incarnating in order to receive worship.[239]

In Dante Alighieri's Inferno, Satan appears as a giant demon, frozen mid-breast in ice at the center of the Ninth Circle of Hell.[240][241] Satan has three faces and a pair of bat-like wings affixed under each chin.[242] In his three mouths, Satan gnaws on Brutus, Judas Iscariot, and Cassius,[242] whom Dante regarded as having betrayed the "two greatest heroes of the human race":[243]Julius Caesar, the founder of the new order of government, and Jesus, the founder of the new order of religion.[243] As Satan beats his wings, he creates a cold wind that continues to freeze the ice surrounding him and the other sinners in the Ninth Circle.[242] Dante and Virgil climb up Satan's shaggy legs until gravity is reversed and they fall through the earth into the southern hemisphere.[243]

Medieval Christians were known to adapt previously existing pagan iconography to suit depictions of Christian figures.[258][259] Much of Satan's traditional iconography in Christianity appears to be derived from Pan,[258][259] a rustic, goat-legged fertility god in ancient Greek religion.[258][259] Early Christian writers such as Saint Jerome equated the Greek satyrs and the Roman fauns, whom Pan resembled, with demons.[258][259] The Devil's pitchfork appears to have been adapted from the trident wielded by the Greek god Poseidon[259] and Satan's flame-like hair seems to have originated from the Egyptian god Bes.[259] By the High Middle Ages, Satan and devils appear in all works of Christian art: in paintings, sculptures, and on cathedrals.[266] Satan is usually depicted naked,[259] but his genitals are rarely shown and are often covered by animal furs.[259] The goat-like portrayal of Satan was especially closely associated with him in his role as the object of worship by sorcerers[267] and as the incubus, a demon believed to rape human women in their sleep.[267]

Italian frescoes from the late Middle Ages onward frequently show Satan chained in Hell, feeding on the bodies of the perpetually damned.[268] These frescoes are early enough to have inspired Dante's portrayal in his Inferno.[268] As the serpent in the Garden of Eden, Satan is often shown as a snake with arms and legs as well the head and full-breasted upper torso of a woman.[269] Satan and his demons could take any form in medieval art,[270] but, when appearing in their true form, they were often shown as short, hairy, black-skinned humanoids with clawed and bird feet and extra faces on their chests, bellies, genitals, buttocks, and tails.[270] The modern popular culture image of Satan as a well-dressed gentleman with small horns and a tail originates from portrayals of Mephistopheles in the operas La damnation de Faust (1846) by Hector Berlioz, Mefistofele (1868) by Arrigo Boito, and Faust by Charles Gounod.[267]

In music

References to Satan in music can be dated back to the Middle Ages. During the fifth century, a musical interval called the tritone became known as "the devil in Music" and was banned by the Catholic Church.[277]Giuseppe Tartini was inspired to write his most famous work, the Violin Sonata in G minor, also known as "The Devil's Trill", after dreaming of the Devil playing the violin. Tartini claimed that the sonata was a lesser imitation of what the Devil had played in his dream.[278]Niccolò Paganini was believed to have derived his musical talent from a deal with the Devil.[279]Charles Gounod's Faust features a narrative that involves Satan.[277]

^Stephen M. Hooks – 2007 "As in Zechariah 3:1–2 the term here carries the definite article (has'satan="the satan") and functions not as a...the only place in the Hebrew Bible where the term "Satan" is unquestionably used as a proper name is 1 Chronicles 21:1."

^Coogan, Michael D.; A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament: The Hebrew Bible in Its Context, Oxford University Press, 2009

^Rachel Adelman The Return of the Repressed: Pirqe De-Rabbi Eliezer p65 "However, in the parallel versions of the story in Chronicles, it is Satan (without the definite article),"

^Peter Clark, Zoroastrianism: An Introduction to Ancient Faith 1998, page 152 "There are so many features that Zoroastrianism seems to share with the Judeo-Christian tradition that it would be difficult to ... Historically the first point of contact that we can determine is when the Achaemenian Cyrus conquered Babylon ..539 BC"

^"And I threw him out from the height with his angels, and he was flying in the air continuously above the bottomless" – 2 Enoch 29:4

^"The devil is the evil spirit of the lower places, as a fugitive he made Sotona from the heavens as his name was Satanail, thus he became different from the angels, but his nature did not change his intelligence as far as his understanding of righteous and sinful things" – 2 Enoch 31:4

^Robert Eisen Associate Professor of Religious Studies George Washington University The Book of Job in Medieval Jewish Philosophy 2004 p120 "Moreover, Zerahfiiah gives us insight into the parallel between the Garden of Eden story and the Job story alluded to ... both Satan and Job's wife are metaphors for the evil inclination, a motif Zerahfiiah seems to identify with the imagination."

^ abRaising the Devil: Satanism, New Religions, and the Media, by Bill Ellis, University Press of Kentucky p. 125 In discussing myths about groups accused of Satanism, "...such myths are already pervasive in Western culture, and the development of the modern "Satanic Scare" would be impossible to explain without showing how these myths helped organize concerns and beliefs". Accusations of Satanism are traced from the witch hunts, to the Illuminati, to the Satanic Ritual Abuse panic in the 1980s, with a distinction made between what modern Satanists believe and what is believed about Satanists.